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Q: I am a 19 year old female and was diagnosed with HPV. I have only had sex once and we used a condom. The guy (a male friend) has not been diagnosed w/ any STD's. He was w/ one girl prior to me, who was a virgin too (we know, we're from a tiny town). However, my former best friend was diagnosed w/ HPV a couple of years ago. We spent tons of time together, went on vacations together, and shared clothes and towels (but never bathing suits or underwear). Is it possible for HPV to be transferred through non-sexual activity as that seems to be the more likely scenario in my situation. Also, how can I prevent spreading it to others?
Advice from the Baroness: "HPV can only be transmitted with the shedding of fresh live cells and doesn't linger on clothing or other surfaces. It's very unlikely you could contract it from towels or shared clothing." says Magdalene Karon, M.D., an OB/GYN based in Lexington, Kentucky. So, sweetheart, you didn't catch HPV from your female friend, but it's possible that you contracted it from someone other than your one lover, through sexual activity that didn't end in intercourse. Skin-to-skin contact of the genital area can pass along the virus, so you can pick it up when simply rolling around naked with a boyfriend, even if you don't go all the way.
HPV is short for human papillomavirus, a virus similar to the one that causes hand warts. Over forty strains of HPV exist, some of them cause genital warts and some are linked with cervical cancer, but other strains are harmless. It's usually detected when a woman's Pap smear results are "borderline abnormal" and her doctor does an HPV test. It's estimated that three quarters of young, sexually active women would test positive for HPV, but most don't know they have it because, unless genital warts are present, the virus is invisible to the naked eye and Pap smears often don't detect it. This stat isn't as scary as it sounds though — less than one percent of these women will go on to develop cancer. "With treatment, certain HPV's can be eliminated, others never can be," says Dr. Irene Fischer, M.D., a New York City gynecologist. "Anyone who is diagnosed with hpv should take is very seriously. Your gynecologist will likely recommend you get more frequent Pap smears and it's important that you follow that advice."
How can you avoid infecting others? Barring sexual abstinence, you can't. "Condoms don't completely protect against HPV, because a prophylactic only covers part of the area, not the external genitalia." says Dr. Irene Fischer, New York City gynecologist. "But condoms are still your best defense, so it's important that you use them."
I'm sorry you've had to learn so early on that something as wonderful as sex has this extremely un-fun side to it!
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